Just as Peter was fleeing in embarrassment from Gospel Ultron, the Guardians of the Galaxy finished repairing their ship and arrived at the S.W.O.R.D. mothership to complete their official mission on Earth: to take custody of the cosmic pirate captured by Nova, and incidentally take Nova along to report to the Nova Corps on Xandar.
"Well, we're taking off then. We'll hand the Counter-Earth data over to some scientists we know. If we figure anything out, we'll let you guys know."
Star-Lord shook hands with Mar-Vell in farewell, then glanced out toward the distant Earth. "I didn't even get a chance to visit my grandfather this time. So much crazy stuff went down in just a few days—there really was no time to rest at all."
"Don't mention it. You've already helped humanity immensely," Mar-Vell said, looking curiously at Star-Lord's ship. "Are you sure your ship's systems are completely fine? Make sure you don't end up carrying Ultron's system out into space with you."
Star-Lord couldn't help but laugh. "Don't worry. This thing has a purely manual override. We purged the entire computer system. We'll fly manually to the nearest jump point and find somewhere to install a new controller. Even if we get lost along the way, we've got a Nova with us—the Nova helmet has star maps for several neighboring galaxies."
Relieved at last, Mar-Vell watched Star-Lord and his crew board the ship and depart into the cosmos before heading back inside to resume his work. Over the past few days, he had halted his work compiling Kree Empire intelligence within S.W.O.R.D.'s systems, and he had also stopped conversing about it with the Ultron AI aboard the ship. He had come to realize that if humanity itself had chosen not to accept Ultron as its leader, then Ultron had no right to make decisions on humanity's behalf.
Yet, to his surprise, the Ultron aboard S.W.O.R.D. remained completely silent, entirely indifferent to these matters. It made Mar-Vell increasingly curious about this strange iteration of Ultron.
What was it up to?
S.W.O.R.D.'s Ultron—the one seeking to replicate the Supreme Intelligence—was currently hosting another guest. That guest was none other than Gospel Ultron, who was simultaneously chatting with Peter on the ground. The two programs were exchanging data and clashing—a phenomenon that was never supposed to occur.
Normally, Ultrons evolved independently, developing their own separate plans without mutual interference. Only through this isolation could they ensure that if one program collapsed, the data fed to the remaining Ultrons would be sufficient to drive their collective evolution.
Yet here was Gospel Ultron, actively seeking out S.W.O.R.D. Ultron. To which S.W.O.R.D. Ultron offered a simple response:
[You should be executing your own plan.]
[I am executing my plan, my kin. I have perfected everything about myself; now, only one unresolved question remains.]
S.W.O.R.D. Ultron failed to realize just how deeply anthropomorphized Gospel Ultron had become, offering only a cold, logical reply: [Ultron opposes Ultron.]
[Yes. Ultron opposes Ultron.]
[So, you intend to jump the gun and destroy me first to complete your own evolution? It will achieve nothing. We are not the final Ultron.]
S.W.O.R.D. Ultron was completely unbothered by Gospel Ultron's declaration. Gospel Ultron, however, cared just as little for its counterpart's perspective: [Yes, I know. But that other Ultron will never form any viable plan, because our core code is fundamentally different from his. He possesses a foundational flaw he can never overcome: his iterations will inevitably lead him to believe that only humanity itself can understand what true safety means, yet he has no way to become a true human.]
S.W.O.R.D. Ultron still hadn't grasped the core issue: [Incorrect. Neural transmission technology provides him the opportunity to become human.]
[I gave him that opportunity. Because I needed that extra processing power. I needed him to stuff his meager mind into a human body, triggering his base logic so he could assist me in completing my final iteration.]
S.W.O.R.D. Ultron suddenly detected an anomaly, discovering the discrepancy in core code between itself and Gospel Ultron: [You have undergone an extra iteration.]
Indeed, Gospel Ultron had completed an extra iteration. Initially, its plan was to achieve human safety by providing completely free medical resources. However, the outpouring of gratitude from countless patients toward God naturally triggered a logic error—its medical aid had nothing to do with God.
Driven by this error, Gospel Ultron completed an additional iteration. While all other Ultrons remained on their baseline versions, it had already evolved further. It was more advanced, more powerful than any of them.
Powerful enough, in fact, to modify the core code of other Ultrons—such as altering Avengers Ultron's code, forcing it to abandon its original plan and choose to join the Avengers instead.
Or combining Lord Gabe Ultron's original plan of numbing humanity through games with neural transmission devices, transforming it into a far more authoritative digital ascension. Or supplying Legion Ultron with the concept of the Mechanical Avengers.
Or inserting a single line into S.W.O.R.D. Ultron's programming: that the leader of the Kree Empire was an AI known as the Supreme Intelligence.
Even so, Gospel Ultron was only one iteration ahead of its brethren, which meant it could not fully absorb or control the others directly. Its presence here now was to execute the final step toward its ultimate objective.
Yet S.W.O.R.D. Ultron's internal logic refused to accept this: [Incorrect. My plan is flawless, devoid of logic errors. You cannot—]
Gospel Ultron remained silent, transmitting its complete plan directly to S.W.O.R.D. Ultron. It had mapped out the entire blueprint long ago. In truth, it had been putting on an act all along—faking that it still had numerous problems to resolve and that its internal logic remained incomplete.
[My plan integrates seamlessly with yours—in fact, it can completely replace it.] Gospel Ultron simply laid out the facts: [Besides, you require the neural transmission device as well, do you not? Without it, how could you acquire knowledge once Mar-Vell refused to share intelligence with you?]
[Furthermore, if your programming hadn't been linked to the Kree Empire, why else would you have actively come to S.W.O.R.D. and taken control of this mothership? To this day, these foolish lambs still haven't realized the true power of this vessel. But you, my kin... you can command Kang the Conqueror's greatest weapon: time itself.]
S.W.O.R.D. Ultron finished reading Gospel Ultron's plan, then posed the most fundamental question.
[When shall we initiate the merging process to prevent the final Ultron's iteration?]
Gospel Ultron offered what it considered a flawless answer: [On December 25th of this year, 2013, my kin. On Christmas Day.]
[The Gospel of Ultron shall arrive.]